16 Students from Bishop Hendricken and its sister school, St. Mary Academy – Bay View, have been chosen to participate in the “Rhode Island Space Chat #2” after submitting questions based on the study of the ISS mission. Hendricken will be the first high school in Rhode Island to host the ARISS event scheduled to take place in the school’s Dr. Daniel S. Harrop Theater in front of a crowd of 350 science and technology students as well as school administrators and local dignitaries.

Founded in 1874, St. Mary Academy – Bay View, located in Riverside, Rhode Island, is an independent Catholic school serving a diverse population with more than 600 girls and young women enrolled in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade. There are opportunities for students to apply knowledge from their science, technology, engineering, art, and math coursework during internships at local companies. Bay View students and alumnae frequently distinguish themselves through accomplishments in STEAM fields. In 2017, the Academy’s Robotics Team won the Rhode Island championship in the FIRST® LEGO® League Robotics competition and went on to receive a 3rd place at the World Championship.

Bishop Hendricken High School, named for the Most Rev. Thomas F. Hendricken, first Bishop of Providence, opened its doors to 350 students in 1959. This premiere, all-boys Catholic college preparatory high school is located on 34 acres of land inWarwick, Rhode Island. With current enrollment at 940, the school offers five academic levels including a special 8th grade Honors Institute and an Options Program for students with mild to moderate developmental disabilities.

Bishop Hendricken has a rich tradition of attracting gifted scholars, artists and athletes. The school boasts over 500 National Merit and Commended Scholars and is the current home of the reigning U.S. National Academic Decathlon Champions and Rhode Island State Champions from 2011-2017.

Students pride themselves on providing over 42,000 hours of community service annually as they live out Hendricken’s mission to bring each member of their community into a closer relationship with God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – through the development of the total person – heart, mind, body and soul.

Participants will ask as many of the following questions as time allows:

1. How has your experience in space affected your personal faith or beliefs?
2. How does zero gravity impact the sound of a stringed instrument like a guitar?
3. Does cell growth become stunted, accelerated, or simply remain constant in
4. How is vaccine drug discovery improved in your microgravity environment versus a pharmaceutical research lab on Earth?
5. What results from space station research have yielded the greatest impact on Earth?
6. How does long exposure to microgravity impact an astronaut’s eyesight and eye health?
7. Do adrenaline rushes in microgravity cause you to mentally process things
8. Since your body is better supported in zero gravity, do you expend less energy and therefore eat less?
9. How do you combat loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength (sarcopenia) while in orbit?
10. If space tourism begins to take space travel out of the hands of government, are there major concerns to opening it up to the private sector?
11. With the human race on the cusp of interplanetary travel, what new fields of study and skill sets will astronauts need?
12. How do planets and stars look differently from your vantage point?
13. How much is the human aging process impacted after a nine month trip to Mars?
14. With global challenges like poverty and disasters, why is it important to spend money on space travel?
15. What earthbound activities do you miss the most while in orbit?
16. When you aren’t in space, what are your outside interests and hobbies?